Such mowers are widely known on the market. When operating, they are hitched to a tractor vehicle, and their rotary cutting elements are driven in rotation by a motor source that most often consists of the power take off of the tractor vehicle. While turning, the rotary cutting elements cut the product to be harvested.
During mowing, it can happen that one of the rotary cutting elements comes in contact with an obstacle that can brake or block for an instant the rotation of that rotary cutting element. The motor source, on the other hand, continues to deliver power. The other non-braked or non-blocked rotary cutting elements then very suddenly give back the kinetic energy that they have stored due to their weight and their high rotation rate.
The sudden absorption of this kinetic energy and of the energy furnished by the motor source by the gear or gears connected to the braked or blocked rotary cutting element can cause breaks in the toothing of those gears. Moreover, it is known in practice that a break at the level of a tooth of a gear causes a sort of chain reaction resulting in the deterioration of other gears. Repairing a cutting bar that underwent such a deterioration requires not only a very long immobilization of the mower with the risk of losing harvest, but additionally causes very high costs.